Pour l'amour du ciel

Matthew 19:24 " And again I say unto you, It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle, than for a rich man to enter into the kingdom of God. "

Jean Gabin portrays ,as often,the self-made -man ,who climbed ,rung by rung, , the career lader; and now,when he has everything a man can desire ,his life is cut short :he's run over by a lorry .When he arrives at the gates of Eden ,Saint-Peter refuses to open the pearly ones and tells him his final destination is hell ;but as he died a day too soon, he 's given more time to redeem his soul.

Is it a Christian movie? I have my doubts ;coming from Zampa , it would be too easy ;the director was always considered all smile and light ,gentle; but his towering achievement, "vivere in pace" set the tone for the works to come and even though he is not as virulent ,as scathing as Comencini or Risi , his films are not optimistic for all that.

"I 've always been a good husband,a good father ,a good boss ; my wife attends the service every week ,and I'm good friends with the bishop who is having dinner at my home " Christian for the show indeed ;and further acquaintance with his milieu after he returns to our good old earth shows a rotten microcosm. When he wants to help the poor man who tried to take his own life,because his boss (himself) did not want to talk to him ,he discovers that this underdog is a lot like him: when he makes him a wealthy man ,living in a desirable huge mansion, the once tramp is not satisfied till he owns everything :he goes as far as to kick out his daughter's fiancé to make her marry a duke.

The Lord said, "If I find fifty righteous people in the city of Sodom, I will spare the whole place for their sake.".Here they are represented by the young couple and mainly the little girl : like in Comencini's best works,children are always the wisest .

A light comedy, very light, too light. The moral is saved, but mishandled.None of the actors is perfectly convincing in his role; the characters never go through with their engagements except the main protagonist - and even then he does so in an annoyance that is transmitted to the spectator.